Environmental regulations, particularly the Clean Air and Federal Water Pollution Control Acts, require complete recovery when cleaning or stripping coatings, contaminants, deposits, growths, etc. (hereinafter referred to as substances) from numerous substrates such as ships. This complete recovery requires that no effluent, i.e. water, abrasives and removed substances, drop to and remain on the ground and prohibits open air blasting using dry abrasives without contaminant recovery and treatment. Consequently, conventional removal methods which use hand-held water and dry abrasive guns that do not recover effluent can not be utilized without restricting and recovering the effluent. Restriction and recovery of the effluent is typically very costly and time consuming.
In addition to requiring improvements relating to environmentally sound operation, conventional systems could also benefit from component improvement such as improved nozzle design, size, and weight for both the hand-held and automated removal systems. In hand-held systems, excessive weight results in operator fatigue and muscular problems, while in automated systems, excessive weight causes swivel seal failure and increases system costs and maintenance time. Consequently, an improved nozzle design which is lighter weight and which allows consistent removal of substances from contoured as well as smooth surfaces with greater tolerance would be useful for stripping substrates such as ships, bridges, etc.
Since new environmental regulations demand complete recovery capability and conventional system recoveries employ large containments which are costly, time consuming, and hazardous to operate, what is needed in the art is a unique, system and an improved nozzle which remove and recover substances from even rough and contoured surfaces.